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imported>An Adventurer |
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| | #redirect [[The Rise of the New Singularity]] |
| '''[[Isparians On Dereth: -15 P.Y. to 10 P.Y.|Previous: Isparians On Dereth: -15 P.Y. to 10 P.Y.]]'''<br>'''[[The Rise of the New Singularity - Monthly Summary|Next Arc: The Rise of the New Singularity]]'''<br>'''[[Story Arcs|All Story Arcs]]'''</div></center>
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| ==== [[Now In This Hush]] - Snowreap, 12 P.Y. (Jan '01) ====
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| Like the snows of winter, a hush fell across Dereth.
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| The Hopslayer banished to the Darkness, the Shadows also retreated from the face of the island. Even the powerful generals of the Shadow armies had removed to undisclosed locations. Isin Dule had retreated with his followers, while news of Ler Rhan was nonexistent. Adventurers that dared to return to the lair of Bael'Zharon found only Ferah holding vigil over her lord's remains. Those that fought the general found that Ilservian's remains still remained potent though. Bathing the Sword of Lost Light in the Hopeslayer's blood imbued the weapon with additional power.
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| But, not only those who dared the Sepluchur of Bael'Zharon found new ways to improve their weapons over the course of the month. The bandit MacNiall grew interested in acquiring the eyes of the Mosswarts' Idols. He sent those who would bring him these artifacts to his cousin MacDougal in the north for a reward. The bandit hilt given to adventurers by MacDugal proved to be an innovation popular with swordsmen and dagger fighters alike. The well balanced hilts allowed those skilled with blades to perform double and even triple strikes with ease.
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| It was not just those who used the blade that grew more powerful though. Rumors of a strange presence near Mount Esper was passed on by the Zharalim. The thing lay within a menhir ring and emanated visions of bloodshed to those who dared to approach it; it seemed to be the very essence of strife. Magicians of the school of the arm were attracted by its power and those that paid tribute to it were rewarded with magicks more powerful than any wielded by any Isparian before.
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| While these boons seemed to signal a hope in a new found security for the Isparian refugees on Dereth, observers of Dereth's less hospitable inhabitants noticed a number of unsettling occurences. The Tumeroks seemed to withdraw from the Direlands, while the Lugians pushed more heavily into the area. Likewise, the powerful undead who had once held a strong position in western Dereth were now weakened by heavy losses during the campaign against the Hopeslayer and also seemed to withdraw back towards the swamps. But, again, somewhat disturbingly, the Virindi seemed to fill the void left by the other creatures of Dereth. At one time these creatures primarily occupied the Obsidian Plains or their own underground installations. Now scouting parties of Virindi guarded by their powerful Tusker Guards and Slaves roamed widely across the landscape. A new Virindi installation even appeared within the A'mun Desert itself. The Isparians could only wonder at what these new neighbors' future goals and plans might be.
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| ==== [[Lonely in the World]] - Coldeve, 12 P.Y. (Feb '01) ====
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| As heat seeped back into the earth snowlines receded. Patches of slush still dotted the landscape, but hints of green returned to most of the land. All was not well, however.
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| The enigmatic Shadows began to walk Dereth openly, harassing adventurers and making travel through remote areas a dangerous proposition. In addition, floating Crystal Fragments appeared. While originally thought to be pieces of the Gelidites' Great Work, the vast number of Fragments that soon swarmed across Dereth seemed to imply another origin.
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| Fortunately, the most learned mages of the land had taken to heart the dire prognostications of the recovered Gelidite scriptures. The Archmages Celdiseth, Fadsahil al-Tashbi, Nuhmudira, and Shoyanen Kenchu developed Master Mage Robes of fine quality, while they allowed their Apprentice Mage Robes to be sold by the local mages of various towns.
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| Non-mages were not left without fashionable attire, however, as the traditional warrior garb of Ispar began to appear in Dereth. Celdon, Amullian, and Koujia Armor became visible signs of a warrior's prowess.
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| ==== [[Shadows of the Past]] - Coldeve, 11 P.Y. (Feb '00) ====
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| ==== [[Darkness Ascendant]] - Wintersebb, 11 P.Y. (Mar '00) ====
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| ==== [[Thorns of the Hopeslayer]] - Morningthaw, 11 P.Y. (Apr '00) ====
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| ==== [[Heroes' Respite]] - Solclaim, 11 P.Y. (May '00) ====
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| ==== [[The Paths of Destruction]] - Seedsow, 11 P.Y. (Jun '00) ====
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| ==== [[To Raise a Banner of Flame]] - Leafdawning, 11 P.Y. (Jul '00) ====
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| ==== [[Taste of Twilight]] - Verdantine, 11 P.Y. (Aug '00) ====
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| ==== [[Twilight's Gleaming]] - Thistledown, 11 P.Y. (Sep '00) ====
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| ==== [[Hollow Victory]] - Harvestgain, 11 P.Y. (Oct '00) ====
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| ==== [[Should the Stars Fall]] - Leafcull, 11 P.Y. (Nov '00) ====
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| With the celebratory festivals of the previous month winding to a close, Derethian adventurers grew restless and exploration of the land they now claimed as a home began in earnest with the discovery of new portals to an archipelago to the south east. On these isles, two settlements of Isparians were found full of people who were not even aware that the olthoi occupation had ended a decade ago. The citizens of Kryst and MacNiall's freehold were as shocked to discover that Dereth was now a free island as the Derethians were to find these refugees of a past they were only beginning to put behind them.
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| The Vesayen Isles, as the citizens of Kryst had dubbed them, while offering a refuge from the olthoi for its citizens were not without their own dangers though. The fauna that also made its home on the isles was familiar, consisting of sharks, mosswarts, wasps, and armordillos seen on the larger island, but these were dangerously strong new breeds. Less familiar predators also stalked the isles, the swamp dwelling moarsmen, the strange tentacled masses called the slithis, and the living idols worshipped by the religiously-oriented mosswarts that called the isles their home.
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| The evidence of this religious practice made the previous month's discoveries of the journals of the missing explorer Sir Candeth Martine seem even more important to understanding these creatures hostile to the Isparians. Martine's journals had hinted both at a stronger organizational hierarchy within the mosswarts than had previously been understood as well as a possible religious war building between the mosswarts and their cousins the banderlings. On these new isles, such a possibility grew more complex as it became apparant that this war may have divided the mosswarts against one another. Some adventurers even reported meeting a possible renegade mosswart called Rumuba who sought the aid of the humans in his study of the animate idols worshipped by his brethern. Other adventurers investigating the mosswart hideouts and strongholds throughout the archipelago also found more evidence of the missing Candeth Martine. His latest journal was a nearly incomprehensible narrative of his latest travails and hinted at dealings between the Mosswarts and the Virindi.
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| These investigations were interrupted by more dire events though. With the discovery of an ancient Empyrean cathedral on the southeasternmost isle of the archipelago (said to have been the home of the "heretical" Adjanite Order), also came the discovery of the center of the undead's defensive operations in their war against Bael'Zharon. Powerful adventurers discovered the general of the undead forces, the Sand King Anadil, and destroyed the creature. The journal they recovered spoke of the location of the remaining soul stone that entrapped the Hope Slayer. It contained information both about gaining access to this Shard of the Herald as well as how the path to the Shard had been corrupted by the Shadows.
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| The path had been altered to only allow access to the stone by the minions of Bael'Zharon himself. This meant that those who wished to reach the crystal could do so only by bowing at the altar of Bael'Zharon, eschewing the protections from their fellows afforded by Asheron. While such a display of obeisance to the Herald may have been distasteful to those who opposed his release, it did offer the very real possibility of defending the shard from those Isparians who would, out of their own dedication to the Hope Slayer or their own ignorance or greed, might seek to destroy the stone.
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| Many monarchs hailing from Thistledown organized just such a defense. The initial success of this defense of the soul stone frustrated the Hope Slayer whose influence on the world while dampened had grown stronger with the destruction of the first five pieces of his prison. Compounding that frustration was the subversion that Bael'Zharon himself had attempted in Coldeve within the ranks of the Isparians themselves. He had tested several monarchs at the time, rewarding them with a shadow stone if they successfully ran a gauntlet of his design. Only two monarchs suceeded, Blackthorn and Vidorian, and were declared Dark Masters, swearing an oath to return a favor to their dark benefactor. With the unexpectedly successful defense of the Thistledown Shard of the Herald, Bael'Zharon desperate to be free, called upon these "errant servants" to break the defense.
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| Attacks led by Nightwolf of Leafcull, Cig of Harvestgain, Crystal Fox of Frostfell, Gusto King of Morningthaw, and Khao of Solclaim finally succeeded and the demonic creature imprisoned for 3,000 years emerged from his prison. The Isparians scrambled to destroy the beast they had released, but the power possessed by this creature was beyond any they had seen before. The Hope Slayer was content to bide his time for the remainder of the month, destroying any adventurer brave or foolhardy enough to venture within his lair. As the bodies of the most powerful Isparians in the land piled up around him, Bael'Zharon feasted on their power and his now unrestrained rage grew.
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| ==== [[The Child of Daralet]] - Frostfell, 11 P.Y. (Dec '00) ====
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| The return of the Hopeslayer could be witnessed in the scarred landscape and blood red waters of the island of Dereth. The skies too bled crimson and the sun was blotted out. Even the fearsome creatures of Dereth were effected by these environmental changes as water golems were tainted by the reddened waters surrounding the island.
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| Within this frightening environment though new arrivals to Dereth were greeted by Mikeal Alayne's Society, which dissemenated information to Isparians first coming to this dangerous new home. In addition, the Society rewarded such new arrivals with useful equipment and weapons in exchange for their help in delivering messages for the Society.
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| Such weaponry would be useful as cities around Dereth were no longer peaceful. The Hopeslayer emerged from his lair early in the month, stalking the land and challenging adventurers to try to best him. Bael'Zharon slew all that challenged him, raining meteoric rocks and even cows from the sky, but those who reacted favorably to the Herald of the Great Master were rewarded with powerful magics not seen before by the Isparian peoples.
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| Bael'Zharon's reign of terror was cut short though by the reappearance of Asheron on Dereth. The reclusive mage visited with monarchs that had refused Bael'Zharon's call to become Dark Masters earlier in the year. Fafrhd of Thistledown and Killean of Morningthaw were told to rally their vassals for a coming confronatation with Bael'Zharon. Elsya Strathelar was also seen by many adventurers. Again, the archer spoke of the need for preparation and of three artifacts--the skull, the heart,and the singularity--that might turn the tide of battle against the seemingly invincible Hopeslayer.
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| Asheron then appeared to stop Bael'Zharon's rampage. The wizard tried to reason with the creature but to no avail and soon the two were locked in a powerful magical duel that raged across Osteth and its outer environs. The duel served to distract the Hopeslayer though and soon a messenger appeared called the Chosen of Asheron with a missive detailing the properties of the artifacts spoken of by Elysa and how they might be combined to sap the strength of Bael'Zharon.
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| Adventurers plunged into new dungeons beneath the sands of the A'mun desert, in the Northern mountains, and in the heart of the Obsidian Plains. These adventurers found that these dungeons required the combined efforts of seasoned veterans and rawer recruits to successfully penetrate them. There they found the artifacts and passed them on to the veteran warriors, magicians, and archers of Dereth to combine.
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| The newly created Sepulchur proved to indeed weaken Bael'Zharon who retreated once more to a lair beneath the earth. There adventurers confronted the weakened but nevertheless still powerful creature. After a number of failures in the twisted living chambers of the Hopeslayer, the heroes of Dereth finally quelled Bael'Zharon's fury, banishing him to the Darkness.
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| The future of Dereth is now uncertain. The Empyrean remain in an unknown hiding place, Isin Dule after aiding Asheron in locating one of the artifacts also removed with his followers to an unknown location, the wizard Asheron returned to his retreat away from Osteth, and now the shadows of the Empyrean legacy that had hung over Dereth for the past year seemed to have been banished. With trepidation, the Isparian refugees bloodied but not defeated waited for the hush that would come as peace seemed to settle across Dereth.
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| [[Category: Lore]]
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| [[Category:Stub]]
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